Light Skin vs. Dark Skin

Nia Long, light?  Hmmmm,   Not in my book, but this just bears out my opinion that we all perceive skin color from our own perspectives and there really is no consensus on what is "light-skinned, brown-skinned, or dark-skinned".  Everybody has viewed my skin color in different ways - I've been light, brown and dark.  I've had a white woman refer to me as light, and another one refer to me as dark.  I've had black women refer to me as light, and other black women refer to me as brown or dark.  I've had men refer to me as, well, under the circumstances they really didn't give a shyt about my skin color.

linda m

@ liberia
Do you have a problem with dark skinned sisters? 

hi liberia - i don't remember nia long acting in coming to america.  did she have a bit part, a walk-on role, a cameo?  her breakout role was in boyz in the hood.  i was speaking with my friend yesterday and we could not come to a consensus on who we thought was light-skinned, brown-skinned or dark-skinned. she thinks she's brown-skinned, although i think she's light.  she says she doesn't know what i am because her hands are darker than mine, but her arms are lighter than mine.  my lower legs are lighter than hers, and her ears are lighter than mine.  i do observe that black people, or any people of color, are different colors on different parts of our bodies.  one of my best friends, who is white, buys the exact same color of foundation that i do.  she's blond, and makeup gives her a tan, but you can still tell she is white, and it doesn't look bad.  go figure,

I'm sorry linda, i mean made in america the movie where she found out she was half white, it also had whoopi goldberg and will smith. i guess I'm not really a person to use the term brown skinned too much. i either say light or dark. but i guess nia is brown skinned or medium to many people. in countries like liberia, nigeria or any west african country almost everyone is dark skinned so thats why brown skinned people are considered light skinned to alot of people. i myself am a light skinned biracial liberian but my legs and chest are lighter than my face. so i understand what you mean. i also think white people look better when they tan. west africans will consider people like meagon goode, donald faison, ludacriss, nas, jay z, tyra banks and will smith as light skinned blacks and people like shemar moore, lisa bonet, vin diesel and mariah carey as biracial as i am. to me there is a difference beetween a light skinned black and a biracial person. alot of african americans are genetically biracial but are considered black like vanessa williams or michael ealy. they most likely come from families where everyone is biracial looking but are black identified. in west africa there are no pure blacks who look like vanessa williams unless they are mixed race.

na wa o,  what would white girls say?

@ liberia 

ok, i understand and i agree

liberia
Posts: 116

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  Re: Light Skin vs. Dark Skin
« #424 on: Yesterday at 03:33:23 PM » 

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I'm sorry linda, i mean made in america the movie where she found out she was half white, it also had whoopi goldberg and will smith. i guess I'm not really a person to use the term brown skinned too much. i either say light or dark. but i guess nia is brown skinned or medium to many people. in countries like liberia, nigeria or any west african country almost everyone is dark skinned so thats why brown skinned people are considered light skinned to alot of people. i myself am a light skinned biracial liberian but my legs and chest are lighter than my face. so i understand what you mean. i also think white people look better when they tan. west africans will consider people like meagon goode, donald faison, ludacriss, nas, jay z, tyra banks and will smith as light skinned blacks and people like shemar moore, lisa bonet, vin diesel and mariah carey as biracial as i am. to me there is a difference beetween a light skinned black and a biracial person. alot of african americans are genetically biracial but are considered black like vanessa williams or michael ealy. they most likely come from families where everyone is biracial looking but are black identified. in west africa there are no pure blacks who look like vanessa williams unless they are mixed race.

thank you so much for explaining this!  now i understand.  again, it's all about perspective.  i am fascinated that some would see meagon goode as light - i see her as light brown.  same for tyra banks. i thought shemar moore was just a light-skinned black person, but not bi-racial.  but i get what you said - if you're mostly identified with, say very light people, or very dark people, then your perception of color value will definitely vary.  yesterday, my friend said i was the same color as queen latifah, and today she said i was dark-skinned.  go figure,

linda m

@ deleted

your statement said it all, your sister is deemed to be prettier than you because of her eyes, not her complexion. Linda M. and Neelsel's post should also reaffirm the fact that being lighter in complexion does not neccesarily mean being the prettier of the two.

speak for your own country and stop generalising. If you go through the previous posts before yours you would realise that there are many Nigerians who are a great deal lighter than you despite the fact that you are mixed.


wrong, of course there are light skinned pure west africans, but none look like vanessa williams with the hair texture and blondey light brown hair. they may be light but they still look black. you can tell by features.

yeaH BUT DO THEY HAVE THE SAME FEATURES AS VANESSA WILLIAMS LIKE THE LIGHT BROWN BLONDEY HAIR AND BLUE GREEN EYES PLUS THE STRAIGHT LONG HAIR. PURE WEST AFRICANS CAN BE LIGHT SKINNED BUT THEY USUALLY don't HAVE BLONDE HAIR AND STRAIGHT LONG HAIR MOST OF THE TIME. EVEN RAMSEY NOAH I ALWAYS THOUGHT WAS A PURE BLACK NIGERIAN AND HE IS MIXED. AND TO THE TOPIC, I NEVER SAID LIGHT SKINNED PEOPLE ARE NEVER THE PROBLEM I WAS SAYING ALOT DO HAVE PROBLEMS WITH LIGHTER PEOPLE THE SAME AS THE OTHER WAY ROUND BUT THE DIFFERENCE IS THAT NOBODY CARES WHEN LIGHT SKINNED PEOPLE SUFFER DISCRIMINATION. YOU SOUND LIKE AN AFRICAN AMERICAN, I REALLY HOPE YOU ARE NOT AFRICAN BECAUSE I HARDLY HEAR AFRICAN WOMEN TALK LIKE YOU.

right that was what i was thinking to myself

i agree with everything you say ghettochyck.

Does Vanessa have green eyes? Hmm, I always thought they were green. 


Any way, Vanessas hair is straight up kinky, nap[nappy or what ever you prefer. The woman relaxes her hair, in other words she permanently straightens it.  As for the color of her hair I have seen Africans, straight up Africans with the same color hair Vanessa has.

If I am not mistaken, also, there are parts of Africa where people are jet black with dark blue eyes. I will have to find out who those people are and which part of Africa they are at.

@ Liberia

Yeah, I'm African and what of it?  I didn't know there was an "African" way to sound.  So, not only  are you an expert on colorism, you our now a sociologist with a concentration on being an African woman. 

Liberia have you been in any other African countries outside the Western African bloc. If you go to South Africa you will see how light skinned many of the 'black' people there are.

Are you talking bout light/black skin black people. Or people who are mixed raced??
You can't generalise and say that all light skinned are pretty/ all dark skinned are pretty.

This thread is stupid

Theres really beautiful girls who are light i.e beyonce
and those who are dark i.e genevieve nnanji, gabrielle union

Now Liberia, your braging about light skinned having green eyes, blah blah. They have white it in them, whether it be their mum/dad, their grandparents or ancestors. No 100% black person has green eyes, non afro hair.

I have to admit, i have never seen an ugly mixed raced person before, and they all seem to be really pretty. But thats becoz i think they have the best features of both world. whether being black/oriental like Amerie. Or black/white like Halle Berry.